Dexter d



ADJLARDY. ROTARY ENGINE.

No 77,373 PaltentedApr. 2.8, 1868.

Atest nvenorv @uitrit tant stmt 'fitta DEXTER D. HARDY, 0E CINCINNATI, oHIo, AssIGNoR To HENRY J, REHRENS, HENRY c, DART, AND EDWARD DART, or NEW YORK, N. Y.

Leners Patent No. 77,373, dated April 28, 186s,

IMPROVEMENT IN ROTARY ENGINES.

TO WHOM IT MY CONCERN:

. Be it known that I, DEXTER D. HARDY, of Cincinnati, Hamilton county, Ohio, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Rotary Engines; and I dohereby declare that the following is a full," clear, and exact description thereof, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, making n-.part oi this'specification.

This is an improvement in the class of rotary engines, having r. pair of pistons or winged heads, which, being connected by proper gearing, revolve together, within a suitable space, by the action of steam upon the wing or wings of each shaft alternately, so as to produce a.continuons, uniform, and unintermittent motion.

Figure 1 is a section of an engine embodying-my invention, taken in a plane parallel to that of rotation.

Figure'Z is a section at right angles to the above, taken et the line X X, iig. 1..

I employ a shell, case, or cylinder, of oval exterior, and of similarform interior-ly to that described in ak patent granted, onthe 5th day of March, 1861, to myself and John J. Morris; that is to say, with sides A,.having an interior composed of segments ofequal cylinders, closed by heads' B B', having axial perforations O for the shafts D D'. I i

Concentricwith and surrounding each axial perforation within the case, is a hub,` E E', whosesidenearest to its 'fellow has a curvedv recess or concavity, F, concentric with, und of lequal radius and curvaturev to, the exterior periphery of the opposing piston.

Each sbaft'has a disk or collar, G G, which works just outside the end of the' hub, and carries a semiannular wing or piston, H' H', adapted to t'and revolve within' the annular segmental spaces I I,'bet\veen the hubs' E E and the shell A.

When .nearly or quite semi-annular, tho-end, Iz, oi each piston isccncaved, so as to permit the free'passege of the other, the 'curve of leach piston being such as to correspond 'with the' sweep of the -connseizing-point of th'c other.,

The two shaftsl are connected by twin gears J J', so as tio revolve together, and in concert, although the steam acts alternately on either piston, so that the', for the time being, effective piston,l is thus made to-drive the other,'and vice versa.

The power may be taken off from eitheror both shafts by pulley K, or a crank, or gearing, either' of the cog or friction'al kind. The inner sido of thc head next to the disks G -G is recessed to receive them.

In the illustration, the steamcntering the lower port is seen impelling the leftshaud piston, and, in so, doing, enlarging the space between the lower end of said piston und the periphery of the right-hand piston,

the spac'e between the upper end of the e'ec-tive piston Vund the lsaid periphery undergoing a corresponding contraction, and the spent steam escaping therefrom through the' upper port. l I

The upper points or horns of the pistons' having passed each other, the hitherto imprisonedsteam'on the right-hand side escapes, the left-hand piston still remaining effective until the said/horns have again passed each other at the bottomo' vthecase, when the right-hand piston begins to take steam, and to drive, in its turn,-

the now noneli`ective left-hand piston.

My present improvement has some advantages over the aforesaid joint invention of myself and Morris.

The rubbing-surfaces of the .parts whose coaction is the'etfoctive medium of availing the force of thcstcam do not, asin said joint invention, touch by a mere line, so as to leak steam, butin every case presentlthe extended bearing of orrespondingconvex and concave-cylindrical arcs, and th'e concave recess of the hub iswespeeally. uselnlby a'ording an extended steam-joint, which, in the aforesaid invention, depended on the nice adaptation of the horns, which had t'o beef almost the full semicircular extent, or one hundred and eighty degrees,- to avoid leaking; whereas in my present improvementl the horns may be shortened, or even rounded ci, -andthus avoid any locking of steam between the horns. i

This device,although in the above description spoken of exclusively as a steam-engine, is equally appli cable as 'a pump, or as a water-meter.

I haveselected, to illustrate my invention, what I deemed its simplest form, but do mnt desire -to restrict mysel` thereto; as, for example, thepiston may be duplicated on each head, and consist of two opposite quadrants. The hubs also may be of propotionail;r smaller, and with shallon'er reeesses. l

I claim herein as new, and of my invention- 1. The concentric 'dxed hubs, recessed substantiallj,t us described, in combination with the two 4geared shafts, their attached pistons, and the cylinder or case, substantially as set forth.

2. vThe pistons, attached tothe facing sides of the two disks, secured to their respective shafts, and so arranged that the piston or pistons of one'shaft work `against the face oE' the disk of the thershaft, substantiailyras herein described,

In testimony of which'invention I hereunto set my hand.

DEXTER D. HARDY.

Witnesses:

Gmo. H. KNIGHT, JAMES H. LAYMAN. 

